One discerning thing I’ve noticed is that nearly every new EA game coming out has a “Limited Edition” release. These aren’t LEs that are sold along side the regular edition, rather these are “First Edition” releases.

For those who don’t know a First Edition is basically an LE or CE that is the only version of a game that is available around the time of the games release date, where a less special regular edition comes out at a later date. This occurs frequently with books where the First edition is generally more expensive and hard bound while subsequent releases are cheaper paperbacks.

It would seem that EA is employing the book publisher’s strategy by rewarding release-day buyers of their games. Most of these only really provide a few in-game perks, like bonus XP or access to cars and weapons earlier in the game that players of the regular edition would have to play a bit before they could use.

They’ve employed this tactic with Battlefield Bad Company 2 “Limited Edition” already and so far three upcoming games have a similar LE announced:

• Crysis 2
• Medal of Honor
• Need for Speed Hot Pursuit

It will be interesting to see if this trend continues or if other publishers will follow suit. I personally will not be adding any of these games to my collection unless I happen to be buying it anyway. I think it’s a great for the average gamer but seems to cheapen the “Limited Edition” title a bit.

The recent rumors were true, Call of Duty Black Ops will be receiving both Hardened and Prestige Editions. In an attempt to 1up Moden Warfare too it will include a video surveillance RC car. It also looks like the game will be housed in a SteelBook case The complete package is as follows:

• RC-XD Video Surveillance Vehicle
  • Fully custom RC vehicle modeled after in-game RC-XD Killstreak Reward
  • Video camera to send wireless video to Transmitter
  • Microphone to send wireless audio to Transmitter
  • Digital proportional steering and throttle
  • Independent suspension
  • Display stand
• RC-XD Transmitter
  • 2” backlit TFT 220 x176 color screen to receive video from car
  • Integrated speaker to receive audio from car
  • Custom pistol grip style RC controller
  • High and low speed settings
  • Up to 200ft control range
• Includes the full Call of Duty: Black Ops Hardened Edition
  • Limited edition Black Ops Collector’s Medal w/display case
  • 4 extra playable co-op maps not in the standard edition
  • Black Ops Xbox Live avatar outfit
  • Premium, special-edition SteelBook™ case
  • Call of Duty: Black Ops full game

A Limited Edition of Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood has been announced for North America and is quite different from the CE that Europe is receiving.

Included is the typical bonus disc with behind the scenes content, an artbook, a fancy case, and the always welcome physical game map, but the real treat is the included jack-in-the-box featuring a character from the game.

The interesting thing here is that there are different jack-in-the-box characters depending on where you buy your LE. GameStop will be selling them with the Harlequin character while all other retailers will have the Doctor.

Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood Limited Edition will be released on November 16th for 360, PS3, and PC at a price of about $100.

According to the Playstation Blog the Collector’s Edition of Little Big Planet 2 will include the following:

• A copy of LittleBigPlanet 2 – duh.
• Your own little “Sackboy” – 7” of plushie-goodness for you to accompany you on your journey thru LBP2.
• Exclusive LBP2 “game ends” – keep your PS3 games in a tidy, organized and ‘Sack-ured” within these unique bookends
• One stop shop for exclusive DLC + more – regarding in-game content, the LBP2 Collector’s Edition comes packed with 11 different pre-order costumes, including:
  • Disney / Pixar’s Toy Story 3’s “Aliens” Sackboy Costume
  • Disney’s TRON: Legacy “Clu” Sackboy Costume
  • The Muppets’ “The Great Gonzo” Sackboy Costume
  • PlayStation’s “Ratchet” Sackboy Costume
  • PlayStation’s “Clank” Sackboy Costume
  • Even More Animals’ “Crocodile” Sackboy Costume
  • Even More Animals’ “Vulture” Sackboy Costume
  • Even More Animals’ “Cobra” Sackboy Costume
  • Even More Animals’ “Mandrill” Sackboy Costume
• And exclusive to the LittleBigPlanet 2’s Collectors Edition:
  • PlayStation’s “Jak” Sackboy Costume
  • PlayStation’s “Daxter” Sackboy Costume
  • 5 exclusive LBP2 PSN Avatars – Lastly, complete your PlayStation experience with a new identity on the PlayStation Network with these new avatars.

The Silver console will be based on the new Slim Xbox 360 design and have Halo themed graphics. In addition to a copy of the regular edition game it will also include 2 Silver controllers with graphics matching the console, a 250GB hard drive, Component Video cables, a headset and all the built in features you’d expect from a Slim 360 (such as Wi-Fi).

The console will go on sale September 14 for $399 currently only announced for the US but if past Halo consoles are any indication it will be available everywhere. Also if past LE console releases are any indication of how this one will sell, you’d be advised to buy it on release if you’re at all interested in owning one.

2K Games have announced that a code for the PS3-exclusive downloadable mission pack The Betrayal of Jimmy will be included with every new copy of the game. Pre-owned buyers will have to buy the DLC through PSN for $9.99 (around £6.50).

The PS3 exclusive content is called The Betrayal of Jimmy set as a collection of arcade style missions where players take on the role of a Mafia enforcer.

A second DLC titled Jimmy’s Vendetta will be available for PS3, as well as Xbox 360 and PC.

The interview covers a lot of topics, to the staff behind the packaging to the kind of work that goes into it, and the costs involved. It’s worth a read if you’re interested in a behind-the-scenes look at CE and Press Kit packaging.

Available for both Xbox 360 and PS3, the Zombrex edition will come in a SteelBook case and includes a plethora of Zombrex branded goodies including a syringe pin, prescription pad and Zombie Outbreak Pamphlet among other things. It of course also includes more traditional CE bonuses such a hard cover Art Book and a movie disc with a full-length feature film as well as a making-of documentary.

Slated for release on September 28th, the Zombrex Edition will run you about $80.

Personally I think this is a much cooler CE than the Outbreak Pack recently announced for Europe, though I see it more as a mea culpa from Capcom to North America or not giving us a CE release for the first Dead Rising while Europe got the SteelBook.

The listing only appeared briefly on a Swedish game site before being taken down but details included the following content:

• a 46 cm x 34 cm Nano-suit bag
• a 20 cm wide Prophet statue
• a 176-page premium art book
• immediate access to higher ranks and unlockable items
• an exclusive #2 Dogtag
• a SCAR hologram
• SCAR Camouflage and additional content.
• A SteelBook case with “unique” painting

Release date was listed as simply “November 2010″ we will post more details we we get them.

Thanks to Onisha for the tip.

The listing for the guide supposedly made mention of including strategy for the 3 DLC packs so its most likely that any Game of the Year Edition release will simply pack in all the additional content with the original game.